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Eugene

(62,639 posts)
Fri May 10, 2019, 12:17 PM May 2019

U.S. warns merchant ships of possible Iranian attacks in Middle East

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS MAY 10, 2019 / 10:53 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

U.S. warns merchant ships of possible Iranian attacks in Middle East

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. commercial ships including oil tankers sailing through key Middle East waterways could be targeted by Iran in one of the threats to U.S. interests posed by Tehran, the U.S. Maritime Administration said in an advisory.

The U.S. military said this week that a number of B-52 bombers would be part of additional forces being sent to the Middle East to counter what the Trump administration calls “clear indications” of threats from Iran to U.S. forces there. The Islamic Republic has dismissed the U.S. contention of a threat as “fake intelligence”.

In the advisory posted on Thursday, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) said that since early May there had been an increased possibility of Iran or its regional proxies taking action against U.S. and partner interests.

These included, MARAD said, oil production infrastructure, after Tehran threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz chokepoint through which about one third of the world’s seaborne crude exports flow.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-shipping/u-s-warns-merchant-ships-of-possible-iranian-attacks-in-middle-east-idUSKCN1SG1MX
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U.S. warns merchant ships of possible Iranian attacks in Middle East (Original Post) Eugene May 2019 OP
The merchant ships will continue to Iliyah May 2019 #1
Most of those ships are not U.S. flag vessels. n/t cloudbase May 2019 #2
A point that didn't seem to matter SoCalNative May 2019 #3
Not a problem. Just put U.S. flags on them just like 1988. Eugene May 2019 #4

SoCalNative

(4,613 posts)
3. A point that didn't seem to matter
Fri May 10, 2019, 12:47 PM
May 2019

to the Germans and their submarine commanders in WWI. Even merchant ships flying neutral flags were eventually attacked.

Eugene

(62,639 posts)
4. Not a problem. Just put U.S. flags on them just like 1988.
Fri May 10, 2019, 01:05 PM
May 2019

Late in the Iran-Iraq War, Iran tried to stop Arab tankers in the Straits of Hormuz. The U.S. allowed Kuwait to re-flag its tankers and put American crews on them. U.S. got pulled into a low-level shooting war with Iran that climaxed with the shootdown of an Iranian airliner.

This has happened before.

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